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10 Facts about Mobile Market Research you can’t ignore

October 5, 2015

Mobile is everything right now and moving forward with Market Research. If you aren’t active in mobile market research, or concretely planning how you will be in the future, you’re going to be left behind.

Phew, that was painful to say but now that it’s behind us, let’s back it up with a little evidence. Here are 10 facts that support that first paragraph:

Mobile penetration nearing 100%: Mobile device ownership in 21 measured countries was 87% in 2012. Many countries have mobiles that aren’t used to access the internet, so for global surveys, multi-mode may still be your best bet to cover all your bases, including face-to-face or telephone surveys in rural areas, and online/mobile surveys in more developed countries.

Growth rates slowing: Saturation levels are being reached, so overall ‘growth’ of mobile adoption is slowing. But mobile broadband is growing extremely rapidly, as much as 40% year over year.

Developing World growth: It’s interesting to note that in the “developing world,” the home computer phase is being skipped in favor of a mobile-first trajectory.

Mobile is a new platform for games: There are 2 billion gamers in the world, half of which are playing on mobile. This is a clear indication that respondents would be interested in fun, engaging surveys, and would be more likely to spend more time in your survey as a result.

Mobile shopping: while it’s clearly on the rise, mobile shopping is still lower priority to mobile users than socializing, playing, and casual browsing among Americans.

Mobiles are…mobile. 75% of UK and US residents kill time in the bathroom with their mobile devices. A captive audience, if you will…

Mobile at home: Despite being within arms reach of their desktop computers, home remains the #1 place where people use their mobile devices.

Mobile-only households: Telephone researchers (CATI) are increasingly needing to factor in higher percentages of mobile respondents into survey design. This is because the number of mobile-only household across the globe is increasing as the population abandons their landlines. American researchers are needing to scramble to find workarounds as the TCPA complicates matters.